United Media – The Daily Cartoonisthttp://www.dailycartoonist.com
The source for industry news for the professional cartoonist
Thu, 21 Mar 2019 18:28:43 +0000 en-US
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1.1112040481Check out GoComics.com and GoComics mobile appshttp://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2014/05/19/check-out-gocomics-com-and-gocomics-mobile-apps/
http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2014/05/19/check-out-gocomics-com-and-gocomics-mobile-apps/#commentsMon, 19 May 2014 15:52:24 +0000http://dailycartoonist.com/?p=15460I’m incredibly happy that Universal Uclick, the people who syndicate some of the best known features in the world, is this week’s sponsor. Universal operates GoComics.com – home to hundreds of the finest comics on the innerwebs. In fact, I’m not quite sure a larger collection of comic strips exists on the web. Each month I receive an email announcing new features that they’ve added. It really is a one-stop portal for great comics as evident by their 1 BILLION page views each year.

If you’ve been a long-time reader of this blog, you know I’ve been bullish on the importance of having a mobile presence and UU has been one of the most progressive syndicates in the mobile space. The GoComics app has been downloaded 500,000 times and is available across iOS, Android and Windows devices. If you don’t have it on your phone or tablet, use one of the aforementioned links and try it out. It’s free and more a productive use of your time than Facebook (just saying).

]]>http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2014/05/19/check-out-gocomics-com-and-gocomics-mobile-apps/feed/315460Dilbert leaves United Media for Universal Uclick (UPDATED)http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2010/12/28/dilbert-leaves-united-media-for-universal-uclick/
http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2010/12/28/dilbert-leaves-united-media-for-universal-uclick/#commentsTue, 28 Dec 2010 18:21:17 +0000http://dailycartoonist.com/?p=8768Dilbert is getting a new manager. Universal Uclick will begin syndicating Scott Adam’sDilbert in June and will take over Dilbert.com on January 1.

The press release is skimpy on details other than the typical canned statements of praise. Scott mentions Universal as the industry leader and Hugh Andrews, president and CEO of Andrews McMeel Publishing, notes that the syndicate has the unique position of being a book publisher, syndicate (print/web) and mobile app provider for its features. That is a big advantage that other syndicates will struggle to compete against in the future.

More details to follow as I get them.

UPDATE: I’ve received a response from from United Media regarding the sale. They clarified one item that wasn’t clear to me before. When Iconix bought the rights to Peanuts and Dilbert last spring, they bought the properties – not just the licensing rights as I had earlier understood. Once the sale was complete, Iconix had the right to move the strips to another syndicate if they wished. Iconix signed with Universal Uclick to host Dilbert.com. My contact at United tells me that that it was “not a surprise to us that the syndication went there as well.” The transition of the property has been ongoing for several months already with Universal slated to take complete control of the syndication the end of June.

CLARIFICATION: In my post above I use the phrase that United let these properties “get away” as if the creators or their families were unhappy and left. I am reminded that the parent company of United Media, EW Scripps willingly sold the properties. It was up to Iconix (and I suspect the creators and families) that determined where the strips landed.

]]>http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2010/04/27/iconix-schulz-family-buy-peanuts-for-175m/feed/236972Comics.com goes down over weekendhttp://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/09/08/comics-com-goes-down-over-weekend/
http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/09/08/comics-com-goes-down-over-weekend/#commentsTue, 08 Sep 2009 22:00:48 +0000http://dailycartoonist.com/?p=5412After a couple of emails and tweets asking about why comics.com was unavailable over the weekend, I contacted United Media to ask why. According to Mary Anne Grimes, the “website host suffered a series of failures that caused intermittent problems throughout the weekend – some users were able to access the site, many could not. Those problems have largely been repaired, and we are adding additional redundancy today and tomorrow to prevent any future occurrences.”
]]>http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/09/08/comics-com-goes-down-over-weekend/feed/15412Ted Rall laid off from United Mediahttp://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/04/22/ted-rall-laid-off-from-united-media/
http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/04/22/ted-rall-laid-off-from-united-media/#commentsWed, 22 Apr 2009 09:00:14 +0000http://dailycartoonist.com/?p=4491Ted Rall, who worked as the Editor of Acquisitions and Development at United Media has been laid off last Thursday. Ted tells me that eight other individuals were also let go and that his responsibilities would probably be reassigned to other people. Ted was brought in for the position back in 2006. During his term he helped United Media launch Diesel Sweeties, Secret Asian Man, Family Tree, The Knight Life and Rip Haywire.

On his blog, Ted writes

I am proud of what I accomplished. Not only did I bring some smart, cool cartoons to wider audiences, I also breathed some life into the daily comics pages, which most readers agree are horribly moribund. I found that I am made to be an editor, helping creators realize their own voices more efficiently and effectively.

]]>http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/04/22/ted-rall-laid-off-from-united-media/feed/774491Year end review for 2008: Rollercoasterhttp://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/12/31/year-end-review-for-2008-rollercoaster/
http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/12/31/year-end-review-for-2008-rollercoaster/#commentsWed, 31 Dec 2008 16:40:03 +0000http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/12/31/year-end-review-for-2008-rollercoaster/2008 might well be described in a word as a roller coaster or to many a third and fourth quarter stock market ride. Clearly many cartoonist achieved career highs and milestones, but for many cartoonist who live and die in the newspaper, there was a lot of dying. In writing this review, I can’t help but think that if we were playing the drinking game and we each took a shot when an editorial cartoonist lost or left his/her job this year – most of us would be stone drunk. I can only say “most” because I’ve been to the AAEC and NCS annual gatherings and I’ve seen how much some of you can drink.

We’ve long speculated what the future holds for comic art in the era of the Internet. We’re in an era where the Internet levels the playing field by enabling the amateur to create a blog, webcomic, podcast and even retail stores to rival the professional. In economic terms, the supply of content has risen dramatically and thus decreased its value. The news media, who for years were beneficiaries of monopolies based on high costs of operation, have found those cost to be millstones pulling them quickly under. Survival can only be achieved by reducing costs – dramatically, quickly and with the fallout of shattered careers of some really wonderful people.

I hope 2009 will be kinder to our creative industry, but I fear we’re not yet through the cutting and bleeding. So settle in, pull out a bottle of your favorite beverage, and be prepared to get a bit tipsy.

January

The month was a quiet one and in typical fashion the first of the month found a new comic feature (in this case, three) vying for space on the funny pages. King Features launched Ollie and Quentin by Piers Baker’s about a friendship found between a seagull and lugworm. United Media rolled out a family strip entitled Family Tree by Philadelphia Daily News editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson. Later in the month, Tribune Media Syndicate launched a new feature called Retro Geek by Steve Dickenson and Todd Clark which has to take the honor of the fastest strip to launch and end in just three months short months. But from what I saw of the marketing effort behind it, I’m sure the “launch” was highlight of the short run.

Eight comic strip cartoonists staged a single Sunday “Cartoonists of Color Sit In” to raise awareness at what they perceived as an inequality on the comic pages. While their strips feature primarily African American characters, the cartoonists felt that their strips were only perceived as “black” strips and not by any other genre and thus, when the “black” (or minority) quota was met on the funny pages, the ability for them to compete in other genres were limited. Participating cartoonists included Darrin Bell, (Candorville), Cory Thomas (Watch Your Head), Stephen Bentley (Herb and Jamaal), Charlos Gary (Cafe Con Leche), Jerry Craft (Momma’s Boyz), Steve Watkins (Housebroken), Tim Jackson, editorial cartoonists and Keith Knight (The K Chronicles, thInk). The effort got them some face time on a couple news programs and newspapers, but the actual effect of the “sit-in” is debatable.

One last comic strip item of interest garners attention for February. The comic panel, The Argyle Sweater, which had rose through the ranks of Comic Sherp then to Gocomics and then into a syndication deal with Universal Press, inked a calendar deal with Borders – before it was even launched into newspapers. Quite a coup by creator Scott Hilburn.

Like a bad omen, there was a “disturbance in the force” when an anonymous blogger claiming to be a professional editorial cartoonist launched a blog called “Bad Cartoonist” and began spilling the dirty, inky, cross-hatching (and photoshopping) deeds of other cartoonists. The cartooning community was divided on whether the anonymous blogger was doing the community a “dis” or service by naming names and mocking the efforts of staff cartoonists. Some even hatched conspiracies of The Bad Cartoonist trying to influence the award jury for the Pulitzer Prize due to his timing of blog launch and end. In the end “Bad Cartoonist” was a flame out. He ceased publishing just couple of weeks later his anonymity intact.

March

In March, the awards come in fast. John Sherffius, he took home the Wilbur Award. It’s not quite as prestigious as the Pulitzer, but is meant to recognize those in that dam’ed secular media who did well in addressing religious issues. William Warren, a student at Wake Forest University, won the Charles M. Schulz Award; Steve Kelley of The Times-Picayune won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award; Mike Peters won the National Headliners Award, Michael Ramirez took the John Fischetti Award; The National Cartoonist Society announced their nominees for the Reuben award and division awards. Up for the Reuben included: Dan Piraro, Dave Coverly, and Al Jaffee.

Ed Stein, editorial cartoonist for the Rocky Mountain News, announced that he was ending his daily local comic strip that ran in the paper for over a decade. The feature, Denver Square, was the last daily comic strip left in America after the lay-off of Nacho Guarache creator Leo Garza at the San Antonio Express-News and the death of Farley creator Phil Frank.

Susie MacNelly and Tribune Media Services resolved their lawsuit that was preventing Susie from moving Shoe to King Features Syndicate. The original suit had been filed in December of last year over a contract dispute. Shoe became a King Feature comic on September 1.

In comics, a minor buzz was created when Ted Dawson (artist) and Max Weaver (writer) are offering a new comic to newspapers for free. The strip is entitled Grubbs. Many professionals argued that giving it away free reduce the value of comics to newspapers and sets a bad precedent. Supporters argue that this is the business model of many successful webcomics.

Finally, official word came that Opus would come to an end. Again. For good. Most likely. The ending would happen in November in a two part comic – one in the papers which would direct readers to the web. A contest of sorts was created to have readers guess Opus final resting place and the winner would have $10,000 donated to his/her animal shelter of choice.

November

November started with a number of newspapers with their knickers in a bunch. Garry Trudeau’s post presidential election mentions Barack Obama as the winner. Since many of the comic pages would be put to bed before the election was called, many papers were uneasy about running it. Most did.

The syndicates were busy. United Media launched a new redesign of their web site Comics.com ending their subscription model and opening their archives and adding features to allow others to embed their comics in their blogs/websites. King Features, ever the more protective of their properties, launched Comics Kingdom – a revenue sharing, embed-able comic solution for newspaper websites.

The New York Times ran a piece the day after Christmas on how the comics were affected by the turmoil of the newspaper industry. Stephan Pastis creator of Pearls Before Swine stated that in today’s market, you have to go where the readers are. More and more hints are offered that it will be in mobile devices and in animation. The article lists a few of the hints: GoComics launched a iPhone version of their site as well as a number of iPhone specific apps for their comic properties. Many strips are being animated. Over the Hedge co-creator Michael Fry started a company called RingTales that does the animation for New Yorker cartoons and the animated Dilbert cartoons found on Dilbert.com. Michael Jantze, creator of The Norm, has created a studio that is doing animation for Zits. Pastis reveals that animated Pearls Before Swine are being discussed.

Right now is an exciting time to be in cartooning. The Internet is opening up a world of possibilities and I’m confident that the business models will continue to mature. All I can say is, hang on, we’re going somewhere cool, but I can’t guarantee the ride will be a smooth one.

Thanks for your continued visits and support for the blog this last year. It means a lot to me.

]]>http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/12/31/year-end-review-for-2008-rollercoaster/feed/133664Peanuts holiday countdown package now availablehttp://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/11/19/peanuts-holiday-countdown-package-now-available/
http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/11/19/peanuts-holiday-countdown-package-now-available/#commentsWed, 19 Nov 2008 22:00:52 +0000http://dailycartoonist.com/?p=3601In addition to Universal’s Garfield countdown package, United Media is offering its annual Peanuts Christmas Countdown package to its subscribers at no charge. The syndicate has offered this package for decades and runs through the shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and also comes in color or black and white.

]]>http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/06/30/news-briefs-for-june-30-2008/feed/43212Amend, Robb, Wilson named judges in Scripps Howard Journalism Awardshttp://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/02/25/amend-robb-wilson-named-judges-in-scripps-howard-journalism-awards/
Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:00:58 +0000http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/02/25/amend-robb-wilson-named-judges-in-scripps-howard-journalism-awards/FoxTrot creator Bill Amend, Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library Associate Curator and Assistant Professor Jenny Robb and United Media Syndicate Senior VP/General Manager Lisa Klem Wilson were named among the 43 journalism professionals that will be judging in this year’s National Journalism Awards. The announcement does not specify which category the three will judge, but of the 17 categories, two are cartoon related: editorial cartooning and college cartooning.

The winner will be announced March 7 and the cash prizes will be awarded at the National Press Club dinner on April 18th.